Can I look in your garage for a bike to ride?

Hey Phat Athletes:

I found this article in the opinion section of the Benicia Patch newspaper.  I thought it was thoughtful, encouraging, and simple to read for beginning cyclist (everyone can be a cyclist!).  Check it out and tell me what you think!  I will have an extra bike soon if someone under 5 feet 4 inches wants to try to ride! 

Best,

PhatAthlete

P.S.  My new bike... Maybe???

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What Kind of Bike Should You Ride?
Search the garage for a bike before you buy a new one.


By Ed Brennan
Benicia Patch, 10/22/10
http://benicia.patch.com/articles/what-kind-of-bike-should-you-ride

This column has focused on encouraging beginning riders to get on their bikes and enjoy the benefits of cycling. Chief among those are the health improvements of aerobic exercise coupled with being outdoors and exploring our environment. With those thoughts in mind let's talk about what it takes to get started.

The first thing required for getting you involved with cycling is your own motivation to get out and do it. Most Americans are way too sedentary to have a healthy lifestyle. Riding a bike is an easy way to break the inertia of standing still and get moving. It is easier on your body than other forms of exercise, since the bike supports your weight and absorbs bumps as you travel.

After motivating yourself you'll need to have a bicycle, naturally. You may have one, or have access to one. I have observed that most American garages contain at least one bicycle, many of them rarely ridden! Your neighbor may have a neglected 1972 Peugeot PX-10 10 speed, or a 1985 Specialized Hardrock mountain bike. Anything that works to get you started is good enough at first.

Once you've done the Benicia State Recreation Area enough times to begin enjoying it, your thoughts may turn to getting your own bike, one that fits you and suits your personality and goals as a bike rider.

There are many kinds of bikes being produced but I'll simplify the process of choosing one that's right for you. There are two basic standard wheel sizes. One for riding on dirt trails and other off-road situations, or mountain bikes, use 26" wheels. For riding on paved roads the wheels are a little larger, known as "700C". So get a mountain bike if you are riding off-road or a mixture of paved, gravel and dirt. If you're planning to be primarily on pavement, go with road wheels. I'm assuming that most people are like me and ride primarily on the road.

The next thing to think about in choosing a bike is what kind of riding you will do. Do you aspire to go with the fast club riders who head out of town on weekend mornings and sprint for the city limit signs? If so, you'll want a light racing bike with 23 millimeter wide tires. Maybe you picture yourself touring the Oregon coast, 50 miles a day between picturesque villages. Touring will require a stouter bike, 32 millimeter wide tires, and bags to hold your gear. Or do you see yourself riding between Benicia, Vallejo, and Martinez as you visit the grocery store and farmer's markets? If this is your bag, you'll want a bike that gives you a more upright position, wider tires, and racks and bags to carry cargo.

Any of these choices, or variations of them, are valid and will lead to increased fitness and better health if pursued consistently. Once you overcome the inertia of standing still, the fun of riding a bike will make you want to keep going.

All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.” Morarji Desai

YEP!  I DON'T DISAGREE!

Hello Blog Space People!  I know I promised you a blog today about workout clothes... Blah Blah... well I want to talk about something different.  Setbacks... Yes I said it... SETBACKS!

You ever feel like people, places, and things (Thanks Schoolhouse Rock) are constantly trying to hold you back?  Well, that is how I am feeling today.  The people, place, and thing holding me back is (and... sorry USPS) UPS!  Now, as most of you know, I am not the standard kind of gurl!  I am especially SPECIAL!  I have a whole lot to love and lots of love to give.  That being said, I had to order a custom wetsuit (http://www.liquidfit.com/) to fit all this love for the triathlon (I can spell it now).  The suit was being made on Monday, packed and ready to ship on Wednesday, a powersurge on Wednesday caused the computer to shut down at the shop.  The suit was ready for pick up on Thursday (I am assuming now... Theresa was helpful but not clear).  NOW, I hear that my wetsuit is less that 500 miles away in LA waiting to get to Vallejo!  DANG IT... I can go get it myself and have it back tonight.  But noooooooo I can't.  Cuz UPS got it.  Now, I am not clowning on the UPS but you know, unless you are at a business, UPS is UNRELIABLE!  Who knows when I will get my suit (the site says Monday... RIGHT) but it should have been here by now!

Well, I guess this will teach me patience.  If I wanted a box of chocolate or something stupid... I don't know... a hat... it would be here by now.  In fact, it only took one day for HSN to ship my computer from Southern Cal... What's up here?  Is it me? 

Now, tomorrow, I have to figure out how to get in a swim workout or swim in the nasty water without a wetsuit.  BLECH!  I guess I will be at 24 tomorrow night getting my swim on!  Nothing good is ever easy; because if it were, I would have a wetsuit by now!  Right?  Now I can look at this as being a setback, get angry, and quit or be lazy and do nothing tomorrow.  But I won't.  I am going to get up at the crack of DAWN and meet my teammates in Benicia and ride with them to San Francisco to watch them swim tomorrow.  Maybe I will just get my run in early!  Then I can watch them swim and run!  Yeah... I think I will do that.  And when I get back, I will just ride over to 24 and go get in my swim workout.  Not the same but it beats the lazy alternative, which will turn into a more difficult setback!

So... I am saying this to say, don't let people, places, or things keep you from your goal.  There are alternatives!  Even if you feel like the alternative is not the alternative of choice, DO IT ANYWAY!  Doing bad is easy (boi... do I want a piece of cheesecake right now); doing good is hard (I guess I will go get some sushi instead!).

Make it a GREAT DAY folks... do the IMPOSSIBLE!

V  :)

First... ok... First Real Post! EXCITEMENT!

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen:

"Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! You're Far Too Kind"- Jay Z

Well all, thanks for joining me on my quest to become a not so Fat Athlete.  The funny thing is, I will always be a PHAT Athlete depending on what each letter in PHAT stands for.  Hee hee.  This is my first BLOG so just work with me as we go along.  I will not apologize going forward for ranting and raving so here is your BLANKET APOLOGY!

Today, I want to talk about excitement.  As most of you know, in 2009 I decided to take on the challenge of riding my bike 100 miles around Lake Tahoe.  Well, despite my wanting to do it, my pushing myself to just get on the bike the morning of the event (mind you after 4 months of training and preparation) with a fever of 100,  high on Tylenol, sudafed, and cough syrup (Not the kind being sold to FOOTBALL PLAYERS at $800 a quart... madness) and nearly having an asthma attack only 20 miles into the ride, I did what I could.  And despite my injuring my foot, getting lost on the course, and wanting to curse out the wonderful lady walking with me the last two miles of a 13.1 (really completed 15.1) mile marathon, I did what I could and completed it (Hey C-Moe!).  And after the previous years experience on the bike ride, I signed up again!  I trained and worked hard at getting faster, stronger, and mentally ready for the 72 mile ride (Metric 100) around Lake Tahoe, to only not sleep the night before the event and wake up with a stomach ache so bad I could keep nothing down the whole ride.  But you know what, I DID WHAT I COULD and went much further than I did the year before.  And now, after much fight, meditation, giving up, meditation, prayer, meditation, screaming, meditation... I am now working slowing on completing my FIRST Triathlon, ever!

Three months ago you could not tell me I could train to be a Triathlete.  Damn it, I have watched the Iron Man competition on TV and thought to myself, "Those people are CRAZY!"  But after some convincing from my cycle coach about the benefits of training for three sports at one time, the reasons why we join Team In Training, my opportunity to get a TRIPLE CROWN (we will discuss later), and learning more about Triathlons (I am doing an entry level event... NOT IRON MAN YOU CRAZIES!), I signed up!  I SIGNED UP to do the Triathlon at Pacific Grove (http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/PG2010-main.htm). 

Now I am not going to lie and say "Oh the training is sooooo easy!"  Well it is not!  But I will say, "If I can do it, you can do it!"  I had to learn how to do things all over again.  I had to learn how to swim efficiently again instead of splashing in the pool and running out of breath in 30 seconds.  I had to learn how to bike again; heck I was used to going and preparing for long distances; we don't go that far now!  And, I had to learn how to run/walk.  Now I can walk/walk real good! (hee hee)  But run/walk is something new for me so I changed it to walk/run (more walking than running) until I get good at the other one.

I have been training since June 7th, the day after the Tahoe ride.  Swimming 3 to 4 hours a week, walk/running 3 to 4 hours a week, and biking... well... I just get on the bike when I can or need to go somewhere that does not involve the freeway.  And then there is the weekend... three to four hours Saturday and Sunday starting at 7 AM!  DO YOU HEAR ME?  7 AM!  I finally got it down to a science to get the most sleep in.

It wasn't until last week, Sunday, when the team was out testing their wetsuits (Let's not go there with mine), did this all start to feel real.  I AM DOING AN ENTRY LEVEL TRIATHLON! Can you believe it?  I was so excited on Sunday that my walk/run actually turned into a jog/run.  FAT or NOT, damn it, I am going to be a Triathlete!  When I want to give up... I just say... I am going to be a Triathlete!

Now, we are half way through the training and this has been a tough week for me because it feels like my body is changing, for the good.  I was able to run three-fourths of each lap at track practice last week and after I did my swim drills on Tuesday, I ended a 1.25 hour swim workout with a 30 lap swim (750m... Nice).  I have muscles that I never knew I had and I hurt in places I never knew I could hurt!  But I am going to be a Triathlete!  Say it with me....

(Next post... PHAT Athlete Gear... what the heck are you thinking?)

Until tomorrow...